


Har(d)ley a Problem

by ilikepie2000



Series: Write Yourself Into Stuff Challenge-Thing [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bromance, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 11:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13879821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilikepie2000/pseuds/ilikepie2000
Summary: Basically, a short conversation between Tony and Harley about his upcoming visit to the tower. This was written in response to a writing challenge about creating a character based on yourself as a way to understand yourself better. (In this particular one, the character based on me is only mentioned. Just. FYI.)"She’s easily impressed.  Which is probably why she likes my inventions. Even the dumb ones.”A longer pause.“If you tell her I said that, I will punch you.”Tony wanted to laugh at the threat of violence from the kid. It was almost cute. (He had the random thought that this must be how Bucky’d felt about Steve most of the time.)Warning: I have no idea what I'm doing. So page breaks, formatting, and OOCness are all valid concerns. Also, POV switches all the time. Cause it can.





	Har(d)ley a Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, I have no idea what I'm doing. Is this how one does things? I have no idea. Are tags a thing? How do you even tag? How does formatting work? I don't know. So. This is attempt number one.
> 
> (So, this is the start of a thing that I read once. I've since searched and can't find it. But. Basically it was a challenge to get to know yourself better by writing yourself into your writing. It asked something like, how would an author describe you if you were a fictional character?' and the next thing was 'do it'. And I was like..............I'll try? so. This is that. Kinda. 
> 
> ((If you notice I neatly bypass actually writing my character into anything, I just introduce her. I need to come up with a name for this nebulous character based on me, but I haven't. oops.))
> 
> Theoretically, this is the start of a series of ((...character A? Fic-Me? Whatever-her-name-is-going-to-be.)) that character being in stuff. So. Be prepared.)

Tony knew it was a mistake the minute he agreed to the ludicrous plan. When had it ever been a good idea to let a child be around him?! But, if any kid could handle it, Harley could, he supposed. They were "connected", after all.

But that wasn't really what was bothering him. No, what was really bothering him was whether _he_ could handle it. While he was around people quite a bit, it wasn't usually on a constant basis. And he had a feeling that he was going to have a near constant shadow. Could he keep that shadow safe? What if Harley got injured? What if something blew up? Would he be aware enough to have a small one about him constantly?

He worried about this for almost 2 whole weeks before Harley's scheduled visit to Avenger's Tower.

Then Harley called.

"Um, Tony?"

"Yeah kid?"

"...can I bring a sister with me? My mom's freaking out ‘cause this is my first long vacation away from home, and she wants my big sister to come with me.”

~~~~~~~

Silence from Tony. Harley frowned at the phone, worried he would say no.

"...you have an older sister?"

Harley grimaced. "Well, not a biological one, but she might as well be. She's helped to take care of me since forever, and she's lived down the street from us since before I was born." With continued silence from Tony, Harley continued, sensing that he would need some convincing.

"She was the one who got me my first chemistry set, and my first engineering kit, and it was her idea to make that potato launcher." Warming to his topic, he continued extolling her virtues, hoping it would be enough. "She's the one who first convinced my mom to let me take over the garage, and she always tells me that my inventions are awesome, even the ones that don't work. She loves everything that I create. Even the stupid stuff."

~~~~~~~

Tony listened as Harley talked about his 'sister'. He listened to Harley's tone of voice,  the inflection, the meaning behind the words he used. Contrary to popular opinion, he _could_ read people fairly well. It was one of the things he was actually quite good at. It was a skill he'd developed over years of dealing with potential business partners, seedy contractors, corrupt senators, and various other kinds of people.

And as he listened to Harley, the message he was getting was ' _please say yes_ ', ' _you'll like her_ ', ' _she's awesome_ ', and most importantly, ' _I'll feel better with her there_ '. That last part was enough to convince him but, because he could, he listened to all the kid had to say about her before saying yes.

~~~~~~~

Harley waited anxiously for Tony to say something. Would he say yes? After what felt like a million years Tony said, "She sounds pretty great."

He felt a small flicker of hope. "Yeah. Yeah she is." he held his breath.

"Sure. She can come along too. What's one more?" came the flippant reply, though Harley could sense the slight tension under that. "Is your mom worried I'll corrupt you more than I already have?”

Harley let out a breath in relief, then registered what Tony'd said and pouted slightly. "No, she's worried I won't behave, and you'll get tired of me being in your way.”

~~~~~~~

Tony smiled, arching a brow. “She said that to your face?”

A huff of laughter from the other end of the phone. “No, I heard her talking to Phoebe on the phone. That’s what got Phoebe to say yes. She was freaking out really bad until Mom activated what she calls ‘The Mom Friend Override’.”

“Phoebe’s the sister?”

“Yeah. You’ll like her. She’s curious and likes science-y stuff. She doesn’t understand most of it, but she’s always awed by my projects.”

A pause.

“But then, she’s easily impressed. Which is probably why she likes my inventions. Even the dumb ones.”

A longer pause.

“If you tell her I said that, I will punch you.”

Tony wanted to laugh at the threat of violence from the kid. It was almost cute. (He had the random thought that this must be how Bucky’d felt about Steve most of the time.)

~~~~~~~

“Don’t worry I won’t.”

Harley narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Now you’re patronizing me.”

“You’re absolutely right. I definitely am.” The sound of other voices came from Tony’s end, and then, “alright kid, I gotta go, but I’ll see you in a week, alright?”

“Okay.” Said Harley reluctantly. “Bye Tony, see you soon.”

~~~~~~~~

As Tony turned away from the computer and ended the call, preparing to answer Cap’s question, he felt a distinct impression of immense relief. There would be a specific individual whose job was to watch out for the kid. That made his job a lot easier.

Now they just had to vet her. Make sure she wasn’t HYDRA, AIM, or any of the other crazies. Simple enough.

Pepper would be happy that it wasn’t just him watching the kid though. For some reason she didn’t’ trust him with young impressionable youths (his shining behavior with Peter not-with-standing).

The lack of faith cut him deeply.

Really, it did.


End file.
